U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,871 to Saur is directed to a method of making ductile superconductors. Pertinent steps in this process include cold drawing a wire and then cold working the wire. The wires are then heated to form Nb.sub.3 Sn on the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,464 to Steyert is concerned with a high specific heat superconducting composite material. This material includes a high specific heat ceramic in a metal conductor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,508 to Tsuya et al describes a method for manufacturing a thin and flexible ribbon of superconducting material. The raw superconducting material is heated to a temperature between its melting point and 300.degree. C. above the melting point and then ejecting the melt through a nozzle against a cooling surface of a moving substrate such as a rotating drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,959 to Braginski et al is related to a submicron-particle ductile superconductor. The submicron particles of superconductor are encapsulated in a metal tube and then fabricated down to a fine wire in the absence of sintering or reacting annealing, thereby avoiding the problems associated with the formation of brittle core or filaments.